Meet Leigh Ann Barney...

Make way for another senior living Changemaker — Leigh Ann Barney, president and CEO of Trilogy Health Services. As a 2023 honoree in the esteemed series, Barney joined Senior Housing News (SHN) to discuss her experiences in the industry, her lessons learned and her best-kept advice for serving the next generation of seniors. We’re pleased to continue sharing interviews like Barney’s, proudly sponsoring the Changemakers series for the fifth year in a row. Read more about the Changemakers initiative for 2023. Leigh Ann Barney named 2023 Changemaker In navigating the many challenges the senior living industry has faced, Leigh Ann Barney has developed thoughtful strategies for how to pivot, change and grow. And according to her detailed interview with SHN, Barney believes more challenges and changes are on the horizon.   SHN: What are some ways that you think the senior living industry needs to change in the next five years? Barney: I think a lot of operators are thinking about this right now. Being in the industry for a long time, we all see the shift in clinical needs. People do not want to go into the highest level of healthcare setting if they don’t have to. Senior housing is becoming more clinically focused, and I wouldn’t say even as much from a treatment standpoint although that is part of what we do. It’s also the wellness component. People want us to be kept well as long as possible. They’re much more focused on that. I think as senior housing operators, we’re going to be offering clinical services to help people remain independent. We will try to keep people living the lifestyle they want they want to live for as long as possible, whether that’s independent living or assisted living or whatever meets...

Rental Readiness Jun24

Rental Readiness

With high demand for rental properties, standing out from the crowd is essential if you want to be a successful property owner or manager. Learning how to prepare a property for rental is one of the easiest to master, and is also a key still for those considering a career in the property management industry. Well-presented properties will naturally be far more attractive to potential renters than dark and dingy spaces. To present a property well, do not go overboard with decor or staging, but make sure the property is spotlessly clean before any showings. Carpets should be professionally cleaned, as should windows. Having spotless windows will provide ideal light. If your property has a yard or garden, you should make it presentable, trim back shrubs, weed the beds, and mow to make the property have curb appeal. If showing a single-family home, grab some vanilla extract and place it in the oven on low heat, which will work better than candles. The entire house will have that soothing smell. Thorough inspections are imperative. Before your renter moves in, take a walk-through, and analyze if there is any need for maintenance. Inspections have never been easier when using Yardi property management software. Using a phone or tablet, you can perform the inspection while inside the unit and log everything into the system. Take pictures, add notes, and pass or fail each item as you conduct the inspection. Once complete, the inspection is saved in the system for future reference. Staying on top of inspections and maintenance items can help keep the value of your assets high, increase renter satisfaction, and speed up the turn process, allowing you to maximize your rental income. Next, determine how much you will earn. When pricing your rental, you...

Chattahoochee Nature Center Jun23

Chattahoochee Nature Center

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees. Let’s introduce the Chattahoochee Nature Center (CNC) from Roswell, Georgia, founded in 1976. CNC believes the natural environment should be preserved and protected for future generations by connecting people with nature. CNC provides a safe and welcoming space for community members to connect with nature through education, interpretation, recreation, volunteerism and community events. “Environmental education is at the heart of everything we do at CNC. We engage, educate, and inspire visitors, particularly children, in the wonders of nature. As Atlanta’s nature destination, we welcome nearly 140,000 visitors annually and provide transformative experiences that inspire an environmentally empowered community,” said Kristen Felty, director of development for CNC. No other venue in the Atlanta area provides direct access to the Chattahoochee River and offers a wide range of education and conservation programming– guided hikes and canoeing to horticulture and wildlife rehabilitation. With its 50th anniversary approaching, CNC recognizes the need to update infrastructure to sustain its organization for another half-decade. CNC has started to upgrade its IT systems, plan for improvements to the physical buildings, and diversify its workforce, volunteer corps, membership, and visitor base. “We aim to increase opportunities to interpret the Chattahoochee River and its ecosystems by convening experts, continuing to promote CNC as a strategic resource for the southeast, and expanding recreational opportunities on the river through community partnerships,” Felty said. In addition, CNC plans to expand its adult education offerings and continue to deliver best-in-class environmental education programming for visitors of all ages and abilities. Funding from Yardi is critical to the operations of CNC since 30 percent of its operating budget originates as contributed income from individuals and organizations. These funds support its efforts to preserve 127 acres along the Chattahoochee River while providing environmental education programs to K-12 students and adults in a safe and welcoming space for wellness and recreation for visitors. Funds also support CNC’s work on rehabilitating nearly 700 native Georgia wildlife creatures, conversing native Georgia plants and growing produce for local food banks. “At CNC, we recognize that our work to preserve and protect the natural environment for future generations is only possible with generous financial support and volunteer assistance from companies like Yardi Atlanta,” said Felty. “We are grateful that our organizations and employees share a passion and commitment to the environment and look forward to working together to grow today’s and tomorrow’s nature enthusiasts. Educating the minds CNC’s educational programming continues to expand post-pandemic. These programs are proliferating, particularly as further studies illustrate the benefits of children and adults being outdoors. The mounting evidence of climate change has also inspired people to become more environmentally conscious. Felty shares, “One of our biggest success stories lies in our educational programming, where we maintain partnerships with two of our local school systems, Fulton County Schools Cultural Kaleidoscope Program that serves each of the district’s 7,000 second-grade students, and Atlanta Public Schools’ Cultural Experience Project (CEP) which provides environmental education field trips to the district’s first-grade students.” #TeamYardi Volunteers In a recent outing, #TeamYardi of the Atlanta office went to Chattahoochee Nature Center and worked in the Unity Garden, where fresh fruits and vegetables are grown from seed, harvested and donated to the North Fulton Community Charities Food Pantry. Nearly 5,000 clients are served by the food pantry annually, and CNC is the largest supplier of fresh produce, donating an average of four tons per year. An extensive network of volunteers and part-time staff members maintains CNC’s Unity Garden. CNC welcomes new corporate or individual volunteers to pitch around the 127-acre campus. Some group volunteer projects include invasive plant removal, habitat restoration and general campus cleanup. Individual volunteers are routinely needed to help at community events, serve as docents or support CNC’s horticulture team....

Recognizing Sarabeth Hanson

We’re excited to announce the next batch of 2023 Changemakers — innovative trailblazers in senior living — which includes three new honorees! If you haven’t seen our previous posts this year, in short, Changemakers is an inspiring interview series produced by Senior Housing News that we’re sponsoring for the fifth consecutive year. The Changemaker we’re featuring today is Sarabeth Hanson, CEO and president of Harbor Retirement Associates (HRA), an amazing Yardi senior living client. Enjoy a snapshot of Hanson’s interview below. Yardi client Sarabeth Hanson named 2023 Changemaker With dedicated experience as a leader at HRA, Sarabeth Hanson has driven positive change across the organization’s 36 communities. Currently operating as CEO and president, she brings over 20 years of senior living experience — and a passion for helping older adults — to her work today. In her interview with SHN, Hanson shares what her journey has looked like over the last several years — and shares what she’s focusing on looking ahead. SHN: How have you changed as a leader since starting in this industry? Hanson: I’ve changed so many ways since starting in the senior living industry, especially since I started in the senior living industry as a recent college graduate who went to school to teach elementary education in the second grade, and found that there was something missing in my fulfillment in that process and stumbled into a therapeutic recreation director position at a not-for-profit skilled nursing assisted living community, where I learned that I was called to serve seniors. I learned the beauty in seniors and really started to lead immediately following that process because that wasn’t a leadership process. I was a team of one, but quickly learned that you don’t have to be assigned to be a leader to be a natural leader. Quickly found that if I had good ideas and was willing to share them, that I could lead efforts that would really change the lives of seniors. SHN: Obviously, we at SHN think of you as a changemaker, but do you see yourself that way — are you always excited to drive change? Hanson: I am proud of HRA and the company that we have become because we’re a little disruptive in the industry. I would say that it excites me to make change in a positive way. You know what, if I sat next to you, Nick on an airplane, and you asked me what I did for a living, I would no longer tell you that I’m in senior living. I would tell you that I’m in the hospitality industry serving seniors. The difference there is when I said I’m in senior living, people wrinkle their nose like, “Oh, thanks so much. Oh, what a hard job.” But when I say it the other way around, they say, “Tell me more.” I want people to know more because we are no longer, at Harbor Retirement Associates, we’re no longer what people think of when they think of retirement living or senior living. We are truly focused on exceptional experiences. That is created through leading with hospitality and not leading with things that are expected like great care and medications given at the right time, but by exceeding their expectations through a hospitality approach and offering choice to our residents in a very safe environment. SHN: As you look across the rest of the senior living industry, do you think that it’s changing fast enough to keep up with the times? Hanson: Covid-19, I think threw a little bit of a monkey wrench into probably some growth because the industry, like everything else got sequestered and had to work through a very high-level clinical model. What we found through that exercise is that we are more clinically capable than we ever thought we were before and that we had ever expected to be. We always were a residential model,...

StartUp Stirling Jun22

StartUp Stirling

Let’s travel to Stirling, Scotland and meet StartUp Stirling. This Yardi-supported nonprofit was founded 29 years ago that help vulnerable people escape violence, such as those coming out of prison or becoming homeless, to set up a home in an empty room or house given by the council. StartUp Stirling provides the essentials for living, such as a mattress, sheets, kettle and food basics. Today, they provide help, such as bed frames, cots, duvets, sheet sets, toasters, dishes, cutlery and nutritious food. StartUp Stirling has just one full-time member and six part-time members but over 100 volunteers, and they get in-need referrals from over 41 agencies. Referrals are required to be allowed at StartUp Stirling, so they know the person is really in need and keep their dignity. For each referral they receive, they have a pre-screening call with the person or family and get the actual requirements for their individual needs—pets, number of family members living in the accommodation and dietary restrictions. Doing this ensures that StartUp Stirling does not provide anything the individuals or families wouldn’t use and ultimately go to waste. This helps support the person’s actual needs. The ground floor is stacked with food, in trays, according to food type and best-before date. StartUp Stirling uses a strict stock rotation scheme so that no food is wasted. Yardi Volunteer Day #TeamYardi of the Stirling office had a volunteer day and were each given a sheet with the requirements for a family of two or four to fill a box. They located the location of each item and chose the correct thing being mindful of the date and family’s needs. They also provided a perishable bag of fruits and vegetables, chilled foods, pet food, toiletries, and a sweet treat or two....

Congrats To Yardi Clients

We’re delighted to share that several Yardi senior living clients earned a spot on the 2023-2024 Best Senior Living list! Presented by U.S. News & World Report and now in its second year, the Best Senior Living list features communities across independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care retirement. If the Best Senior Living list is new to you, at its core, the list is inspired by a mission to help seniors and their families navigate the challenging process of selecting a community. For the communities who earn a place on the list, U.S. News includes detailed profiles with ratings and testimonials to educate and provide visibility in the senior housing space. To all who earned a well-deserved spot on the list — including our amazing clients — congratulations from us at Yardi! Yardi clients earn a place on the 2023 Best Senior Living list To establish the Best Senior Living list for 2023, U.S. News evaluated nearly 4,000 communities nationwide, analyzing survey data from over 250,000 residents and their family members. The top-rated communities for each level of care were deemed Best Senior Living honorees in their prospective categories, and that included nearly 1,700 communities in total. For certain senior living organizations, a large batch of their communities were recognized on the list — Yardi clients included! Explore the U.S. News Best Senior Living list to browse the communities recognized.   Want to see how Yardi clients are finding success with our senior living solutions? Get in touch with us. More on the Best Senior Living list You may be wondering what the survey entails when U.S. News reaches out to these senior living communities. In partnership with Activated Insights, they ask residents and family members to rate their experience on things to help guide prospective residents in their search — such as kindness of staff and quality of care.   In addition to publishing ratings and testimonials for communities on the list, U.S. News also shares the benefits and costs of different living options for all to explore. This provides fantastic visibility into communities across the nation and ultimately helps seniors and their families make informed decisions when searching for a place to live. Congratulations from Yardi Choosing a senior living community for yourself or a loved one is a difficult process. But with resources like the Best Senior Living list, it can be less overwhelming. We’re happy to highlight this year’s Best Senior Living list honorees, including our fantastic senior living clients! Read more about the Best Senior Living list for 2023. Ready to learn more about our senior living management software? Check out this Senior Living Suite infographic. Have questions or ready for a personalized demo? Once again, we encourage you to reach out to our senior living team...

We Are Blood Jun20

We Are Blood

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees. In 2022, Yardi offices supported more than 350 nonprofits worldwide. For the remainder of the year, we will bring you the stories of those organizations and insight into how they aid their communities. Today we take you to the deep heart of Texas and introduce We Are Blood, a Yardi-supported nonprofit founded in Austin, Texas, in 1951. We Are Blood provides and protects the blood supply of Central Texas. Over 50 medical facilities, including every hospital in its 10-county service area, partner with and rely on We Are Blood for platelets and blood products. As our population increases, so do the needs of the communities We Are Blood serves. Central Texas has grown over the past five years, and health services have expanded. With this, We Are Blood has seen extraordinary growth in transfusion needs and its organization’s priorities continue to shift to meet these needs. All donors welcome      We Are Blood invites you to become a donor today! On an average day, We Are Blood needs to receive at least 200 blood donations to maintain an adequate supply. When you donate with them, your donation is prioritized based on local conditions. Which means it stays in the community to help save the life of a fellow Texan. During June, We Are Blood partners with the Austin Humane Society and Central Texas Food Bank (another Yardi-supported nonprofit) for the “Giving Double” drive. Every blood and platelet donor can choose either the Central Texas Food Bank or Austin Humane Society as a recipient of a $5 donation fromWe Are Blood, allowing Central Texans to provide much-needed blood...

Success With Senior IQ

When exploring technology solutions for your business, there’s nothing better than viewing direct testimonials from professionals in your industry. We understand the value of seeing how a product functions through a current client’s eyes — which is why we love creating success stories for you to enjoy, including those that feature our senior living solutions. So we’re excited to share our brand-new piece that shares the power of Yardi Senior IQ through the eyes of Syndell Lawhon, vice president of wellness at Vitality Living! From covering Vitality’s journey prior to this single connected solution, to sharing the success the organization has found since implementing it, Lawhon brings a wealth of insights to the table in her interview. Don’t miss this one — read the highlight below then visit the Vitality Living success story to see more. The Challenge: Siloed Data Vitality’s data used to be scattered across siloed solutions, requiring leaders to pull information and generate reports manually. Not only were these processes time-consuming, but they also prevented Vitality from unlocking insights regarding occupancy, falls and more — since data lacked the organization and presentation needed to reveal important trends. Not to mention, Vitality’s data wasn’t being updated in real time. Leaders sought a business intelligence solution that would present up-to-date, business-wide data in a visual format — all in one place. The Solution: Yardi Senior IQ Yardi Senior IQ is a business intelligence solution that surfaces real-time data in attractive, sharable dashboards. Designed for senior living providers and drawing portfolio-wide data from Yardi Voyager Senior Housing, Senior IQ provides the insights needed to act confidently and make smarter, faster decisions. The Story: Visualizing Insights, Driving Informed Decisions, Empowering Staff & Streamlining Workflows Before Senior IQ, Vitality didn’t have a seamless method for capturing and gathering important data. “Prior to us coming to Yardi, with the system that we used before, we couldn’t pull any of that data,” shared Syndell Lawhon, vice president of wellness at Vitality. “We had to do things manually.” Manually pulling metrics and organizing insights, they were limited to sharing only numbers with staff, owners and investors. Now with Senior IQ, Vitality has a visual representation of the same information — via custom graphs and tables — housed in one secure location. “Nurses are very visual people,” explained Lawhon. “When they can see the numbers in a graph pulled right up in Senior IQ, it clicks so much faster. Numbers on a piece of paper are not as powerful.” With intuitive dashboards, graphs and tables revealing trends that Vitality wasn’t previously capturing, leaders are gaining insights that move the needle like never before. “A trend is telling you something,” shared Lawhon. “There’s so much information in Senior IQ that you can dig into. There’s always something we’re finding on a daily basis — something else we know we could use.” With the ability to access real-time data in Senior IQ, Vitality can now make informed decisions regarding occupancy, care, staffing and revenue. And by giving care staff the tools to visualize important trends — Senior IQ helps Vitality empower those individuals, which boosts retention as a result. “Senior IQ helps us with nurse retention,” said Lawhon. “When you start getting data and looking at the bigger picture — how you can make things better for the whole community — not only does it make you feel empowered, it also elevates your skill set.” Vitality also left data digging in the past when they implemented Senior IQ. Instead of searching through siloed solutions and manually compiling insights to send to owners and investors, Vitality now unlocks actionable information at the click of a button. “I can go in Senior IQ and in two seconds, I’m able to pop information right out for that community and send it right along,” shared Lawhon. Read the full interview with Vitality Living   The snapshot above doesn’t cover everything Lawhon...

Reimagining Affordable Housing Training Jun19

Reimagining Affordable Housing Training

Our series highlighting affordable housing visionaries continues with a look at the work of Ebonye Edwards, director of learning and development for ALCO Management. ALCO is based in Memphis, Tenn. The company’s 200+ employees serve communities in eight states in the Southern United States. ALCO’s portfolio includes 59 properties with 5,497 units. How did Yardi choose Ebonye to feature in our Affordable Housing Visionary series? It’s her ability to recognize the usefulness of training and to implement technology that keeps ALCO in compliance with the ever changing standards of the affordable housing industry. She keeps ALCO’s in-office and remote workers trained using custom courses, curated learning plans, automated reminders and reporting tools. Q: Ebonye, tell us about your role at ALCO. EE: As Director of Learning and Development, my job is to make sure our team has the resources necessary to not only perform their job, but also to create career opportunities in the complex affordable housing industry. Q: What is your biggest accomplishment at ALCO to date? EE: When I was hired, our learning program used live instructional sessions held in virtual classrooms. I discovered that method to be a bit inefficient because classes would often be faced with unknown delays and absences that may have limited the potential benefits of training. Q: How did you mitigate those limitations? EE: At the time, ALCO was licensing Yardi Aspire, but with limited actual use. Our training courses at the time covered standard topics such as fair housing, sexual harassment and maintaining a drug-free workplace. All other topics, including affordable housing compliance subjects, were taught by our in-house instructors. They’d set a schedule with hopes of reaching everyone who needed training. Despite their best efforts, it was a challenge for everyone to attend. As I was considering the future of training at ALCO, I took a closer look at Aspire. I found that Aspire had affordable housing property management and compliance training content that could supplement, if not replace, much of the live training sessions we had difficulty coordinating across our regional work spaces. We considered the different roles at ALCO, such as property managers and maintenance teams and created learning plans based on those roles. Q: How does your team make sure your learning plans cover everything you need? A: Our Senior Instructional Designer is great at creating custom courses in Aspire. She uses the templates and design tools to roll out coursework to our team, and can normally complete a module in a matter of days. One of the biggest differentiators I have found with Aspire is that it’s not just a medium to get training content onto the screens of learners. Aspire is different because it also has built-in, proprietary content. That content often meets our needs, but when it doesn’t, our design team can easily tweak the classes or build new learning modules from scratch. Q: How does Aspire help ALCO with affordable housing compliance mandates? EE: Yardi helps us keep up with evolving affordable housing industry regulations. When HUD changes go into effect, Yardi Aspire immediately begins work to make sure our training content is compliant. I feel confident that our staff is learning up-to-date processes and procedures and not spending time on anything out of compliance. Q: How does automated content delivery make things easier for ALCO? EE: Centralizing training on a learning management solution, such as Aspire, replaces a lot of administrative work. Instead of keeping track of training schedules for each employee in a spreadsheet or database, we automate things on Aspire. It alerts our team members when they are required to recertify on fair housing, employment standards and on changing laws. Q: Was Aspire helpful for ALCO during the pandemic? EE: Yes. At the time, I felt like ALCO was ahead of the curve compared with what other affordable housing organizations may have been experiencing. For example, Aspire is great for...

Goodbye Disparate Systems

For senior living operators, using fully-integrated, all-inclusive software — as opposed to disparate systems — has major benefits. From gaining new efficiencies to improving resident care, the benefits are further enhanced when operators choose a solution designed for the unique needs of senior living. That describes the Yardi Senior Living Suite, which supports a multitude of today’s operators like Scottsdale-based Westminster Village. And to show you exactly how Yardi tools work to build success, we recently interviewed Dan Poteet, Westminster’s chief information officer. Continue reading to get top insights from Poteet, who shares what’s possible when you leave disparate systems in the past. We encourage you to read the success story in full, too! About Westminster Village Westminster Village is Scottsdale’s premier non-profit Life Plan community. Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, it was founded in 1988 by a group of friends and neighbors who envisioned a community where people could continue their accustomed lifestyles and be assured of lifelong health care. Their idea was to assure dignity and independent living for people in their later years. The Challenge: Siloed Solutions Before partnering with Yardi, Westminster Village was operating using siloed solutions and manual processes. That combination was time-consuming and susceptible to errors, which prevented staff from working as efficiently as possible. Westminster leaders sought a single connected solution to streamline workflows at every level — and enhance resident satisfaction. The Solution: Yardi Senior Living Suite The Yardi Senior Living Suite combines resident care, marketing, sales, finance, business intelligence, operations and more on a cloud-hosted, HIPAA and SOX compliant software platform. Mobile, intuitive and efficient, the Yardi Senior Living Suite has everything you need to manage your communities and drive growth. The Story: Thriving With An Integrated Solution, Driving Efficiency & Enhancing Satisfaction Since moving forward with Yardi, Westminster now has one centralized system that offers everything needed to drive success. “This is a major improvement over having disparate systems not connected to each other,” explained Poteet. With RentCafe Senior CRM automating workflows, sales and marketing teams are equipped to work productively, stay informed and track leads with ease. “Having the ability to keep track of prospect touches and having auto-generated follow-up tasks has helped our marketing team stay better connected with prospects and the sales cycle,” shared Poteet. On the care side, Westminster saves time and reduces errors using Yardi EHR, since all resident data automatically flows over from Yardi Voyager Senior Housing. “Being able to do our home health billing and having it connected to Voyager is the most valuable feature,” said Poteet. With RentCafe Senior Living Portal and Yardi Payment Processing, residents and families access the convenience of online payments — which helps Westminster’s accounting team on the processing side. RentCafe Senior Living Portal also keeps residents, families and staff connected by displaying real-time updates relating to care, community activities and more. “The resident portal allows us to communicate and provide information to our residents and their families quickly and conveniently,” shared Poteet. Continue reading the Westminster Village success story Want to get in touch regarding the Yardi Senior Living Suite? Reach out to our team! We’re happy to answer questions or schedule a personalized demo at your...

Housing Support Jun15

Housing Support

The massive wildfires spreading across Canada this year have ravaged 3.3 million hectares of land and displaced over 120,000 people. With many Nova Scotians recently forced out of their homes, Yardi added a new feature to its rental listings portal, Point2, to help displaced residents find shelter. To locate these properties, evacuees can use the filter “NS Wildfire Relief Rentals” and find all the homes that were made available as temporary shelters. Posting a listing on Point2homes.com is free and housing providers are encouraged to add as many of these emergency properties as possible. With this addition, Yardi aims to connect evacuees with those who can offer a safe and secure place during challenging times. “As a company that is committed to using technology to positively impact our communities, Yardi is proud to collaborate with the Province of Nova Scotia to aid those affected by the wildfires,” said Peter Altobelli, vice president and general manager of Yardi Canada Ltd. To learn more about how you can offer or seek shelter visit...

Storage Rates Hold Jun15

Storage Rates Hold

Self storage street rates were solid in May, with several unit types and sizes improving on a monthly basis and sequential growth staying to trend, according to the latest National Self Storage Report from Yardi Matrix. The self storage market continues to be resilient, despite headwinds to demand caused by a slowing housing market. National street rates for standard-size 10×10 non-climate-controlled (NON CC) units and 10×10 climate-controlled (CC) units both increased $1 month-over-month in May, to $128 and $143, respectively. Across all rate types tracked by Yardi Matrix, smaller-size units performed the strongest in May, as national rates for 5×5 units increased 1.8 percent for NON CC units and 1.7 percent for CC units on a monthly basis. Year-over-year, national street rates for 10×10 NON CC units decreased 3.8 percent, while rates for 10×10 CC units fell by 4.7 percent. Although year-over-year street rate growth has turned negative, net operating income continues to increase as operators push rates. That has come at the cost of a slight hit to occupancy rates, but demand is still above pre-pandemic levels. “The outlook for the sector remains optimistic, although concerns persist about how the slowdown in home sales and potential weakening job market caused by higher interest rates will impact storage demand, street rates and occupancy levels in the second half of 2023,” state Matrix experts. Learn more about the state of the self storage sector nationwide. Yardi Matrix tracks a total of 4,799 self storage properties nationwide in various stages of development — including 807 under construction, 1,959 planned and 646 prospective properties. Matrix also maintains operational profiles for 29,744 completed self storage facilities across the United States, bringing the total data set to 34,543. Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment...

Keys to ESG

Note: This article is adapted from an interview with Joe Consolo, Yardi’s industry principal for energy, that was published in PERE magazine. “ESG [environmental, social and governance] performance is becoming a key concern and differentiator for many real estate players,” PwC and the Urban Land Institute declared in their joint Emerging Trends in Real Estate survey report in 2022. Establishing ESG priorities to meet changing compliance and investor expectations complicates the already complex business of property management – but in today’s environment, property owners need to avoid the consequences of ESG obsolescence that can alienate investors and tenants and invite regulatory penalties. That’s why enhancing ESG performance with improved operations, technology and tenant behavior is critical to sustaining asset value. Obsolescence risks investor hesitancy Back when ESG factors weighed less heavily on property management, buildings become obsolescent because their design or amenities become outdated, causing the properties to lose market value. External factors such as the location or local job loss often also came into play. But in this era, failure to comply with energy efficiency standards and other ESG standards rank among the key drivers of property obsolescence – and real estate investment decisions. With laws governing environmental and construction standards “only becoming more stringent, there is a significant risk for the future if you barely meet those standards today,” Consolo says. Tech bolsters compliance Fortunately, property managers can undertake a number of initiatives to prevent ESG obsolescence and maintain attractiveness to investors and tenants. They include such relatively simple sustainable processes as encouraging tenants to recycle and switch off their lights at day’s end. Preventative equipment maintenance, such as changing filters, upgraded air handlers and other equipment and dealing promptly with equipment failure, also helps maintain peak ESG performance. Other actions that...

Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Jun13

Inter-Faith Food Shuttle

Let’s travel to Raleigh, North Carolina and introduce you to the Yardi-supported Inter-Faith Food Shuttle (IFFS). Founded in 1989, the IFFS mission is to feed neighbors, teach self-sufficiency, grow healthy foods and cultivate innovative approaches to end hunger. IFFS empowers its neighbors on their path to food security through food distributions, access to retail-quality produce from its farm and community gardens and nutrition and agriculture education. “We collaborate with over 200 community partners across our seven-county service area with the shared vision of a hunger-free community in central North Carolina,” shared Leigh Blancato, Corporate partnerships manager of IFFS. Last year, IFFS distributed 9 million pounds of food (37% was fresh produce) or 8 million meals across its partner agencies and programs network, including BackPack Buddies, School pantries, Mobile Markets and Grocery Bags for Seniors. They harvested over 70,000 pounds of retail-quality organic produce from its 14-acre farm for distribution to families experiencing hunger. IFFS engaged 758 children, families and seniors in 1,910 hours of nutrition education and built 30 Gardens for Everyone– raised bed gardens for neighbors of the community. To end hunger, IFFS learns the barriers that create the need for its service. Ending hunger means dismantling and replacing those barriers with an equitable food system framework. This calls for understanding the barriers to food access from those impacted, developing strategic community partnerships and collaborating to grow its programs to better support and serve the community. “Our goal is to provide 10 million pounds of nutritious food to chronically food insecure neighbors across our seven-county service area by increasing equitable food access in under-resourced communities as we address the barriers that create the need for our services,” said Blancato. Funding from Yardi is directed to the greatest need, providing food access and transformative education programs to chronically food-insecure neighbors in the counties they serve. The power and importance of unrestricted funds cannot be overstated, as it allows IFFS the flexibility to respond immediately to needs as they arise. Strong community partnerships with organizations committed to addressing the root causes of hunger and working together to advance hunger solutions are crucial to IFFS’s work. “We are immensely thankful for the continued generous support we have received from Yardi. Your support has had a transformational impact on the communities we serve. We are grateful to consider Yardi a partner as we work together to Feed, Teach, Grow and Cultivate approaches to end hunger,” enthused Blancato. Sharing is Caring Gladys is a mother and grandmother who attends a Mobile Market in Durham, NC, every month to pick up free groceries and fresh produce. She uses the food she receives to supplement her family’s budget as she cares for the nine family members. She began visiting the Mobile Market after her local grocery store closed, leaving her and her neighbors in a food desert. She especially loves the fresh produce she receives, as it reminds her of the fresh fruits and vegetables she had in Honduras growing up. In addition to feeding her family with the food received at the Mobile Market distribution, she also prepares nightly meals for neighbors experiencing homelessness, saying, “The things God gives to us, we’re supposed to share with others.” Volunteer Opportunities Volunteers are integral to the Food Shuttle’s mission and welcome the opportunity to have Yardi employees volunteer with them. They offer various options for individuals and groups, including Community Gardens in Raleigh and Durham, Food Packing in the warehouses and Gardens for Everyone to assist with building raised garden beds. Learn more about the different volunteer opportunities IFFS offers. Interested volunteers can contact the volunteer services team directly at [email protected] or 919-390-1974. “We’re thankful for the dedication and commitment from Yardi to create a hunger-free community in central North Carolina,” Blancato shared. Find future non-profit profiles...

Scholarship Program Expands Jun12

Scholarship Program Expands

Building on a history of supporting the pursuit of higher education, leading real estate technology provider Yardi is partnering with 20 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada to provide college scholarships to students with financial needs. The Yardi Foundation has committed over $10 million in scholarships and student support over the next four years. “Yardi recognizes that a college degree can be life-changing, especially for first-generation scholars, and we are excited to join these colleges and universities and help students achieve their goals,” said Jay Shobe, a Yardi senior vice president. Previously, Yardi had committed to scholarship support at four Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the Southeast, as well as the University of California, Santa Barbara. The newly announced scholarships will be available at: Arizona State University California State University, Channel Islands California State University, Fullerton University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Farmingdale State College Georgia State University Morehouse College North Carolina Central University North Carolina State Shaw University Spelman College Stony Brook University Toronto Metropolitan University University of California, Berkeley University of California, Irvine University of California, Santa Barbara University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill University of North Texas University of Texas, Arlington University of Texas, Austin Yardi Scholarships are designed for recipients with need, many of whom will be their family’s first immediate member to attend a four-year college. Selected students will have majors related to business or computer science. Students can contact their institutions’ financial aid departments for more information. Among the institutions offering Yardi Scholarships is Farmingdale State College in New York. “This is an incredibly generous gift that we are enormously grateful to receive on behalf of our students,” said Matthew Colson, vice president of development and communications. “Yardi is taking a leadership role in improving the futures of our distinctive and diverse community here at FSC. This investment will redefine the scope of opportunity for our students and is sure to pay dividends far into the...

Rents Rise in May Jun09

Rents Rise in May

Multifamily asking rents rose for the third straight month in May, according to the latest National Multifamily Report from Yardi Matrix. Despite the threat of a slowing economy looming, average U.S. asking rent rose $7 in May to $1,716, while year-over-year growth decelerated to 2.6 percent. That was the lowest level since March 2021. For the year to date, rents are up $18, or one percent since January 1. The seasonal outline of growth is not far off a typical pre-pandemic year, although the rate of increase is lower. “While performance displays resilience, the data is not unambiguously positive as it has been for most of the last two years,” states the report. “Rent growth has turned negative year-over-year in several metros as occupancy rates weaken amid slackening demand and rapid growth in new deliveries.” Overall market attitudes remain positive. Renting is still cheaper than owning, and first-time buyers are renting longer. The stickiness of high-income renters likely contributes to the recent resurgence in high-end Lifestyle properties, in which rents rose 0.4 percent in May. The average single-family unit rent reached $2,100 for the first time in May, about a year after topping the $2,000 mark. Year-over-year growth fell 40 basis points to 2.1 percent. SFRs are boosted by waning home sales attributed to high interest rates and limited inventory. Gain more insights by downloading May’s Multifamily...

Organic Soup Kitchen Jun08

Organic Soup Kitchen

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees. Let’s head to Santa Barbara and introduce you to Organic Soup Kitchen, founded in 2009, which has been making and delivering nutrient-dense SoupMeals to low-income seniors, cancer patients and chronically ill community members throughout Santa Barbara County. Today they provide to more than 20,000+ residents annually through a network of more than 50 volunteers and health and human service agency partners. Organic Soup Kitchen will open a second location in downtown Santa Barbara this month to expand its efforts to more vulnerable communities. Organic Soup Kitchen has scaled up operations to keep pace with the community’s needs as the demand for nutrition and food security has skyrocketed over the past few years. The extra work has quickly outgrown its kitchen facility and the new center will give Organic Soup Kitchen twice as much freezer space, which will not only increase capacity to make and serve SoupMeals, but it will also allow to rescue and stabilize additional produce that would otherwise end up in the landfill.   “The new center will be a hub for nutrition education and SoupMeal distribution, helping us increase our accessibility to underserved and marginalized community members,” said Jennifer Hyle, development manager at Organic Soup Kitchen. Funding from Yardi has been critical for helping Organic Soup Kitchen provide lifesaving nutrition. Yardi’s contribution goes directly towards purchasing premium ingredients and biodegradable packaging for SoupMeals. Organic Soup Kitchen is thrilled to have gained the trust and support of employees at Yardi. “Receiving the news that our organization was nominated to receive funding was a great honor as we have always admired Yardi’s commitment to strengthening...

Yardi Acquires CloudVO Jun07

Yardi Acquires CloudVO

Yardi, the global leader in real estate software, announced the acquisition of CloudVO, the San Francisco-based online reseller of virtual offices, meeting rooms and other workplace services. Yardi’s listing service network includes sites such as CommercialCafé, CommercialSearch and PropertyShark, who have established prominent positions in the commercial real estate space. CoworkingCafé is dedicated to promoting coworking services, but all listing sites share the same database. Listing with one is listing with all, giving operators more exposure to anyone looking for coworking services than any other option. The Yardi listing network generates over 20,000 leads per month to participating commercial property owners and coworking operators.  “We have closely followed CloudVO’s progress for many years now, and it seemed that the time was right to incorporate their assets and intimate knowledge of coworking operators into Yardi. We are looking forward to continuing this journey with Laurent and his team,” said Rob Teel, Yardi president of commercial. Laurent Dhollande, CEO of CloudVO, commented: “We are thrilled that CloudVO is now part of Yardi. Our partners will benefit from the Yardi listing service with infinitely more reach and strength than CloudVO could provide on its own, with seven online listing sites that combine over 3 million visitors monthly. Our customers will be exposed to a larger inventory and better choices for their online bookings and purchases of workplace services, including meeting rooms, private offices and virtual offices.” As of June 1, CloudVO ceased to take new orders and clients are being redirected to CoworkingCafe. Phone answering services will continue to be provided by CloudAnswering, without interruption, and are not part of the assets sold to Yardi. CloudAnswering will stay as a member of the Pacific Workplaces family of...

Remote Work Impact Jun06

Remote Work Impact

The impact of remote work on the housing market has been significant. In a webinar by Yardi Matrix, Jeff Adler, Matrix vice president, brought up several notable shifts. The full recording and presentation slides are available online. Let’s explore the big-picture impact of remote work on housing and communities. There are myriad cultural changes from the pandemic from an economic standpoint, but one of the most significant transitions is the prevalence of remote work. Working remotely offers more opportunities for household formation. In addition, with remote working becoming more prevalent, some employees are no longer tied to living near the offices. This has increased interest, particularly in suburban areas like Charlotte and Phoenix, where households can enjoy more space, lower living costs and a quieter lifestyle than in urban centers. Additionally, some businesses have chosen to leave high-cost cities for lower-cost ones, such as San Francisco to Austin, New York to the Carolinas and Chicago to Nashville. “I think Huntsville is a great market for many businesses, but it’s just now beginning to have a lot of supply hit,” said Adler. “Any place where you got to have a supply response will run through some struggles for the next couple of years as it gets absorbed.” In addition, research found that remote work has led to a surge in household formation, counterbalancing population loss in dense cities. First-time homebuyers are becoming priced out of the market, which encourages renting, especially while mortgage rates are at the highest level in more than 13 years. Household formation could stall as renters move in with family or roommates to cut costs. Remote work has given homeowners and renters more flexibility in choosing where to live. This has resulted in shifts in migration patterns. People are moving from...

Unlock Evolving Functionality

Did you know 65% of sales professionals use CRM? And out of companies using mobile CRM, 65% achieved sales quota compared to 22% of those without mobile CRM? Case in point, with the right CRM solution, senior living operators are equipped to advance sales and marketing efforts in more ways than one. But it’s important to find a solution built for the unique needs of senior living — one equipped with tools that evolve as the industry does. Fortunately, we have just the solution in mind. Meet RentCafe Senior CRM, our mobile-friendly single connected solution. Read on to see what this one-of-a-kind platform offers today’s senior living operators. The sales and marketing tools you need There’s so much functionality to cover when it comes to RentCafe Senior CRM, but at a glance, the solution helps you: Configure and automate the sales process to guide your unique selling approach View real-time census data, occupancy status, unit rates and amenity offerings Eliminate duplicate data entry with a united leasing and move-in workflow Lead with confidence using a platform integrated with multiple elements of the Yardi Senior Living Suite Generate, complete and upload documents to RentCafe Senior Living Portal, where residents and family members can sign electronically Reduce risks with a solution that is HIPAA and SOX compliant Access visual reporting with configurable, group-based dashboards and a wide selection of KPIs Drive efficiency with a convenient mobile app built for iOS and Android devices Enjoy the convenience of Yardi as your single support avenue Offer residents a seamless move-in journey RentCafe Senior CRM doesn’t simply help you during the early stages of the sales cycle. It offers tools to power the cycle from start to finish, including the time leading up to move-in (once a prospect commits to your community). At that stage, you access:   Up-to-date resident assessments A seamless leasing workflow equipped with rates, specials/discounts and approvals Easy-to-generate electronic leases The automatic attachment of documents to the resident record in Voyager Senior Housing And more! Evolving functionality like no other platform What else makes RentCafe Senior CRM a differentiator? To add to everything already mentioned, RentCafe Senior CRM offers: Inbound and outbound calling, texting and emailing Duration and engagement tracking Triggered activity follow-up Predictive analytics Automated prospect and referral correspondence Event management Third party API integrations Lead scoring An integrated solution built for senior living Of course, one of the biggest benefits of RentCafe Senior CRM is its ability to integrate with key elements of your business. While other CRM solutions may offer a few valuable features, they don’t always integrate with EHRs, financial platforms and everything in-between. As part of the Yardi Senior Living Suite, RentCafe Senior CRM connects with everything you need — saving time, eliminating errors and ensuring your teams have up-to-date information at all times.     Level up with RentCafe Senior CRM Wondering how else RentCafe Senior CRM helps operators reach new heights? Reach out to book a quick, personalized demo. And in the meantime, feel free to explore our RentCafe Senior CRM infographic!...